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App Store Developers Form a 'Union' Ahead of WWDC Calling for Free App Trials, Better Rates
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Margin on Selling Apple products are generally very thin, like Single Digit Percentage. Other brand tends to go anywhere from 10% to some 25%.
I think one of the problem is, the App Store revenue, while being extremely large, are mostly driven by IAP ( In App Purchase ), and in IAP, likely 80 to 90% of it are all Games. I.e most of the App developers aren't actually doing as well as some might expect.
I think may be, a slightly fairer pricing would be
25% for IAP
20% for One time Purchase
15% for Subscription.
Actually even a 30, 25, 20 would do fine. And Apple generally can charge for it without much problem. But the App Store itself is riddle with App Discovery problem, refunding problems ( From Developers 's perspective, since they don't have a choice ), Fake or Copy apps that Apple doesn't do much / Enough about it. Not only has Apple not improved it much in the past three years, Mac App Store is even worst. And by any account, it is not up to Apple's usual quality standards, hence why Developers aren't too happy about it. I.e, Apple aren't actually adding / providing much any value with their 30% cut, they are simply rent seeking.
So the way to help app discovery is to scatter them to random websites instead of keeping them centralized, and opening the door to all kinds of fraudulent activities from sketchy sources? No thanks!
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Aside from maintaining enormous data centers to deliver all that content, push updates conveniently, and also processing all financial transaction securely, you mean?
Well, they did create the iPhone and App Store.
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Apple wouldn’t sell retailers product at 30% off MSRP.
You are confused. Right now you must authorize billing for when trial ends. They want that to stop so billing does not take place automatically when trial ends.
Actually, I was wondering why they were giving Apple that much time, free trials should be implemented immediately. They could do it like Google does, basically they give you a certain amount of time to request a refund and if you di they automatically uninstall the app.
So, are we expecting demonstrations and people with banners interrupting the keynote presentation, like it is common in political rallies, because Apple (rightfully) may ignore this union's requests?
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Is it OK to "report" a user's post for having an insulting low level of business dynamic knowledge?
I agree. And Brent Simmons hasn’t made a decent app in years. That silly Vesper app he made with Gruber crashed and burned.
Wait, I thought “trials” are possible using in-app purchase. Ie. You created a free version of your app, and use in-app purchase to unlock the whole app. Isn’t this the same in a sense? Remember the old days of shareware? Where you get the first few levels for free/cheap, then pay more for the full set?
As for subscription, wouldn’t that be better for devs too? Subscription allows devs to get recurring income instead of a one time revenue. Even Microsoft and Adobe realized that.
As for subscription, wouldn’t that be better for devs too? Subscription allows devs to get recurring income instead of a one time revenue. Even Microsoft and Adobe realized that.
I, for one, am really happy about the no-trials rule. Every app has at least some lasting value. I don't have dead apps on my home screen that worked for a month and then stopped.
Not allowing trials has forced developers to come up with cheaper or free "light" versions of their apps, much to the benefit of customers.
I would have to actually think if Apple offered free trials of apps, they'd loose customers.
You'd have more choice, but your also not forced onto anything neither.. Most could do free trials of apps on anything and not pay a cent ever.
Its Apple, they have a business to run here. They already offer 'free' apps but not to everything, so perhaps Apple could make all apps free with the option to buy after... That way you'll cover both methods.
True, but if you test drive a car, there is also no obligation to buy it either
You'd have more choice, but your also not forced onto anything neither.. Most could do free trials of apps on anything and not pay a cent ever.
Its Apple, they have a business to run here. They already offer 'free' apps but not to everything, so perhaps Apple could make all apps free with the option to buy after... That way you'll cover both methods.
True, but if you test drive a car, there is also no obligation to buy it either
You realize that’s exactly what this group is asking for w/r/t trials, right?
Not necessarily, e.g. when your small hot fix for a critical bug is stuck in Apples review process while customer complaints and negative reviews are already coming in and you are completely dependent on luck if the update gets approved within a few hours or a couple of days…
I don't want to badmouth the App Store in general but this is one of the things that can be very frustrating for both customers and developers.
Apple doesn’t want trials because it’ll lead to a large drop in purchases. That’ll mean less money for the developer and less for them. As much as I’d like trials as an end user, I just don’t think it’s a good idea for the developer community (or Apple). They could try and mitigate with some dark ux patterns, making it automatically end with the user paying rather than simply timing out of a trial, but that would require artificially making the system worse. If I end up spending $3 and the app didn’t work out for me, I’m ok with that. If App Store prices were generally higher, I’d understand.
I can totally get behind increasing the developers’ cuts though. That makes a lot of sense. In fact, I would recommend that it’s a much higher cut (say 90%) for those making very little revenue, gradually reducing the cut to the current 70% for developers as they get more money. That would relieve more of the indie developer side.
I can totally get behind increasing the developers’ cuts though. That makes a lot of sense. In fact, I would recommend that it’s a much higher cut (say 90%) for those making very little revenue, gradually reducing the cut to the current 70% for developers as they get more money. That would relieve more of the indie developer side.
One sentence in the piece was somewhat poorly written, but several posters have completely misunderstand what is being requested by the union.
It read:
It should have be written as!
“The current system includes recurring charges at the end of the free trail period, something that the developers want eliminated.”
That was greatly misinterpreted —for example:
It's exactly the opposite! They want to eliminate the automatic charging.
It read:
It should have be written as!
“The current system includes recurring charges at the end of the free trail period, something that the developers want eliminated.”
That was greatly misinterpreted —for example:
It's exactly the opposite! They want to eliminate the automatic charging.
Cost analysis should be done by the developers beforehand. They can also have reviewers REVIEW it. People can search up that review. If the app costs too much, no one will buy it. That's true for anything. Apple has made App Store refunds incredibly easy. There is no excuse.
Apple will be perfectly fine if a few idiotic developers disappear.Yes, see how long Apple lasts without any 3rd party apps whatsoever
Doing nothing ?
Apple is providing a platform for App developers to develop apps and sell them for them.
Every one charges including Amazon, Microsoft, eBay.
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we can't decide this based on one app, if you search in news you can find that Developers make more money on iOS App Store than Google play store.
it is still same 30% cut though, so App developers are not loosing more money by developing for iOS.